


I Think About You

by Kira_Dattei



Series: Developing Relationship Kinktober 2018 [17]
Category: No. 6 - All Media Types
Genre: AO3 FB Challenge, Canon - Anime, Dealing With Trauma, M/M, Post-Canon, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-17
Updated: 2018-10-17
Packaged: 2019-08-03 18:23:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16331198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kira_Dattei/pseuds/Kira_Dattei
Summary: What happened at the correctional facility was traumatic for Shion and he has to deal with it on his own.





	I Think About You

**Author's Note:**

> Day 17 of my Kinktober brings me back to this fandom and getting some experience working from Shion's perspective. ^_^

Shion closed the door behind him as his mom walked up to him and stretched up to place a kiss on his cheek. He toed off his shoes and carried them back to the stairs at the back of the bakery that separated the store from the residential area.

“How was your day, Shion?” Karan asked as she followed a few steps behind.

“It was fine. I met with some representatives of education for No. 4. They managed to give me some details of their system that I think is a bit better than No. 5 had to offer. No. 5 is better about higher education so I’m not too surprised,” he replied. “I think I can finish off my proposal and get it submitted for review over the next few days.”

Karan smiled at him, Shion warmed by the pride he saw there.

“I’ve got dinner set aside for you.” He always spent at least one evening a week with his mom and she’d make dinner for him and they’d talk about what they had going on.

It was pretty much the only real time to relax that Shion got. The rest of his time was dedicated to No. 6, to seeing that it was somewhere that deserved to survive.

He needed to make sure it would be somewhere _he_ would be willing to come back to.

Shion left his mom to finish closing the bakery and went back into the kitchen, a covered plate sitting on one of the counters. He reached for the lid, but paused and his hand dropped to the counter next to the plate.

He wasn’t hungry.

That wasn’t strange though: he hadn’t had much of an appetite for the last few weeks. Not since he’d started having nightmares of the correctional facility. His clothes were already fitting just a bit looser. The nights he was with his mom was the most he’d eat in a sitting all week and he was staring to notice a difference.

And he was having even more trouble wanting to eat, making himself get some down.

Karan walked through the door and Shion finished the motion of removing the cover, revealing a blend of cooked vegetables over rice. It looked good, smelled good, and he knew it would taste good. It still wasn’t enough to feel hungry, He went over to the sink to wash his hands as she moved a stool closer to the counter and sat down. He returned slowly and grabbed the fork next to the plate and took a bite.

“It’s delicious,” he said honestly once he swallowed. She gave him a smile as he continued to eat slowly, hoping actually getting some food in him would help his body feel hungry.

“How are you settling into the apartment they gave you?” she asked. The committee he worked with on the reconstruction had given him an apartment close to the office, one that had been fitted with much of the technology No. 6 had been known for. It allowed him to work as easily from there as he could at the office building.

On some level, it was convenient, but on another it meant work was the most accessible pastime for him no matter where he was.

“I’m getting used to it. There aren’t many people living in that area so it’s much quieter than I’m used to,” he replied. He wondered if that was part of the reason he was struggling now, because he was generally uneasy about where he was living. The last place he’d been that had been that empty had been Nezumi’s. Maybe it was just acting as a constant subconscious reminder and the nightmares were a result of that, making him face things he’d been avoiding for nearly a year now.

“Shion, are you sure you’re doing alright? You look a little pale.”

Shion smiled as he replied, “Mom, no one gets much paler that I am.”

At least when he’d lived in West District, he’d been outside plenty as the days got warmer and he’d gotten a little darker, but his complexion hadn’t been done any favors by the bee’s toxin.

Maybe one day he would have the time and a strong enough curiosity to find out just why his body had reacted differently, why even before it had been removed it hadn’t progressed like it had in Yamase.

His mom gave him a meaningful look, not following the deflection. She may not have been someone who qualified for the gifted program, but she was smart where it mattered. She knew him and he’d nearly run out of people who did.

So, he sighed and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the counter to the side of the plate. “I haven’t been sleeping well. It’s been getting to me these past few days.”

“Do you know why?” she asked, keeping a good handle on any growing concern.

“I’ve been having nightmares, pretty bad ones. It’s made it difficult to get much sleep.”

“Nightmares about the Holy Day?”

He nodded. “Just remembering. A lot happened that day.”

“Have you spoken to Inukashi about it?”

“I haven’t seen her lately, not since it started anyway.” And after it started, he’d decided not to seek out Inukashi’s company: he just didn’t feel like being on the receiving end of her harsher beliefs right now. He felt like he couldn’t actually handle hearing he was weak. He’d very likely believe it more than he could stand to and No. 6 didn’t need that right now, not when real progress was being made.

“What about…” Karan cut herself off and Shion focused back on her as she suddenly looked thoughtful.

“What, Mom?” he prompted, though he was confident he knew what she was going to say.

“You still haven’t heard from him, have you?” she avoided naming Nezumi as she usually did. Nezumi didn’t come up in conversation often between them, but Shion figured that was for his sake. His mother was fond of Nezumi, despite having never met him. He’d taken care of Shion, gave her a way to talk with him while they’d been separated, and helped reunite them. Then Shion had done nothing but say how much Nezumi meant to him and she had seemingly appreciated him all the more.

When they met again – always “when”, never “if” – it would likely be embarrassing for Nezumi.

“No, I haven’t. I think it’s too soon.”

“To hear anything from him? It’s too soon for him to tell you anything about how he is?”

“It was four years the last time. And he had purpose behind what he left for. But I have to be patient, and I have to be vigilant. If I mess up, he’ll know and he’ll never let me live it down.”

His mom’s eyes got sad, then. “Shion, perhaps you’re struggling now because you are spending so much thought on someone you claim is not coming back yet. Keeping one eye out for him all the time when you need all your focus to be on what’s in front of you must be taxing your body and mind.” She reached across the counter and grasped his hand. “You’re worried about him.”

She was right, as always. He let out a sigh and turned his hand over to clasp hands with her. “Before, when I saved him when we were twelve, I thought of him at least once every single day. It was never to blame him for our lives changing because I never regretted what I did, never agreed with the authorities that I’d been wrong to save him. But I always wondered if he was safe, if he healed up alright, if he escaped, and if he thought of me. As much as I wanted to see him again, just so I could know, I didn’t expect it. But all that happened mostly in the back of my mind.

“That’s not how it is this time. I think about him all the time. But there’s nothing I can do about it but endure, try to think about anything besides the one I love and miss more than anyone.”

He felt a tickle of moisture at the corner of his eyes and dropped his head, letting his hair shield him. He didn’t want to cry about this. And most of the time he could help it. But not now, not talking to his mom.

“Oh, Shion,” she called to him gently. “You know, I believe he thinks of you as often as you do of him. And the reason he left, I’m certain it is something that will allow him to return to you. So, you must see to your own needs, ensure that you allow him to return on his own terms and not out of concern for your well-being.”

Shion nodded, reaching up with his free hand to rub at his eyes.

“Shion,” she called again and he looked up at her. “Think about him as much as you wish. It isn’t wrong for the one you love to be on your mind. Because until you are reunited, that is how you stay close to them.”

Shion wondered if she was speaking of his father then. They didn’t talk about him but there were times when she seemed sad and it had been that way as long as he could remember. Perhaps it had been her own struggle with thinking about a loved one now gone speaking now, a voice of experience.

“I will, he declared.

While he didn’t necessarily feel better now, he felt like he had done himself some good for the future. Because while he was completely convinced he would see Nezumi again, he was also certain it wouldn’t be soon. This time they spent apart would continue longer than he wanted.

But it wasn’t his call for when they reunited.

The only thing he could control was making sure Nezumi knew he wanted him back the moment he saw Shion. He couldn’t have any doubts that would make him leave again.

**Author's Note:**

> I've got at least two more of the prompts for the month being with these guys, so look forward to those coming to an AO3 near you.  
> Thank you for reading and hope you enjoyed!


End file.
